Hoquiam xWorking Titlex
by SingeBleu
Summary: A chance encounter brings two people together. Can they help each other find what they're looking for? SethxOC P.S. I suck at summaries. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything from Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. I get nothing from the writing of this story, besides happiness.

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I remember waking up to Claire's bright blue eyes only inches away from my face. "Get up, please!" Her quiet soprano voice irks me in the morning. I rolled over, trying to cling to sleep, but she poked me in the ear that was left exposed. "I said please!" She was getting cross, which only ever leads to hair pulling, so I shoved my blankets to the side and sat up. "What is it Bug? I'm sleeping." I grabbed a hair elastic from my nightstand and worked at restraining the mass of curls that was trying to suffocate me. "Up up, time to take me to the playground! You PROMISED." Claire was already dressed, with her galoshes on, with her little fists resting on her nonexistent child hips. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, it told me little, as numbers don't mean much to me when I first wake up. "Ok Bug, let me get dressed and grab some breakfast and then we'll go." She just nodded and trudged out to the living room. I shut the door to my bedroom as I heard the familiar sounds of Saturday morning cartoons drift down the hallway.

I looked at the clock again, this time discerning that it was still before nine am. _Why me? I hate mornings. Why can't Claire be like other kids and like to sleep in on the weekends?_ I knew that wasn't fair and that lots of other children woke up early, but I had never been one of them. I went to the closet, picking my way past books and dirty laundry. I rummaged around until I found a clean pair of jeans and a tank top. _Today seems like a day for green, yeah. Now where are my socks?_ I dug through my drawers to no avail. I grabbed a sweatshirt from off the floor and pulled it on over my head. Barefoot, I grabbed my cell phone from the nightstand and shoved it in my pocket as I opened the door to the hallway. _Socks, socks, socks. Where could they be?_ I meandered down the stairs to the laundry room and searched the dryer for a clean pair. I ended up with two different blue socks, but at least they were both blue. Now that my feet were warm, I trudged up the stairs to make some breakfast. Claire was still watching cartoons, but I could tell she was getting impatient by the tapping of her galoshes on the linoleum.

I opened the fridge. Disappointed by the slim selection, I instead grabbed an apple out of the bowl on the counter. I held it between my teeth as I rummaged in the cupboard for a travel mug. _Thank goodness for automatic coffee makers._ I poured myself some very strong French roast and walked out to the living room. Setting both the apple and the mug down on the banister, I grabbed my shoes and tugged them on. "Ok Claire, I'm ready to go now. Did you tell Daddy where we're going?" She turned off the TV and jumped up from the couch. "Nope. He's sleeping. But don't worry I drew him a picture to 'splain when he wakes up." She wrestled into her raincoat, as I walked down the hallway. I opened the door to my Dad's bedroom, the light was off. "Hey Dad? I'm taking Claire to the park; I have my cell phone on." I whispered to the sleeping mass. All I got was a muffled grunt as a response, but that was enough. "Okey dokey kiddo, let's do this!" I grabbed my apple and coffee from the banister and as an afterthought stuffed my iPod in the pocket of my sweatshirt. We walked the ten minutes to the park hand-in-hand, with the occasional break for puddle jumping, in the constant drizzle that is spring in the Pacific Northwest.

When we got to the park Claire immediately got busy climbing and jumping, and running around. I just sat on the bench, trying to avoid the moss covered sections, and stuck the iPod ear buds in the appropriate auditory canals. I munched on my apple, giving my coffee time to cool, as I watched Claire play. The trees that shaded the east half of the park blocked out what little sunshine was able to break through the cloud cover, making it more than a little chilly. It was still before ten am, and we were alone on the playground, although some early morning dog walkers were out on the trails. I was finally waking up, thanks to my hot cup of caffeine, when the battery on my iPod died. _Shit._ I pulled out the headphones, and tucked the whole contraption in my pocket. That's when I heard it.

At first, all I noticed was Claire's squeals of joy as she swung from the monkey bars. But then I caught a scrap of noise, barely audible. It sounded like breathing. More like a breathy growl to be exact. I didn't want to alarm Claire, especially considering how paranoid I can get, so I just sat for a few moments listening carefully. For a while there was just the breathing, then a twig snapped, and the breathing sounded closer. I heard a more distinct growl, throatier than before. I stood, very nervous now, and looked around. The west side of the playground was open to the baseball field, nowhere for anything to hide. That left only the woods to the east side of the park. I walked the perimeter of the playground, still trying to keep Claire from noticing. "Hey Bug, I'm going to go look at something real quick ok? I'll be just a few feet away, so don't get scared. I'll be right back, stay here." She kept swinging, not acknowledging that I had spoken. I shrugged and stepped in between the trees at the edge of the playground. I was determined to find the source of the panting. _Maybe it's a dog, a stray that's hurt or something._ I tried to convince myself that it was harmless, but it wasn't working very well.

I had barely taken ten steps into the shaded sanctuary of the forest when I heard the breathing again, louder and to the right. I veered off the path towards the sound. I came across some tracks in the dirt that looked to be large dog prints. _HUGE dog prints._ I followed the sounds and the prints to a large fir. I leaned against the tree, its bark rough on my cheek. I paused, suddenly uncertain if I really wanted to know what lay on the other side. The tree was so large that if there were three of me holding hands, we still wouldn't make it all the way around. I gulped loudly, froze, and as I poked my head around the tree I came face-to-face with the largest, most intimidating canine I've ever seen. It was laying in the dirt at the base of the tree, staring up at me, seemingly in surprise. It was larger than any dog I'd ever seen, including the Great Dane Irish Wolfhound mix that belonged to the family down the street from me. It had long brown-gray fur and black eyes that were quickly turning from surprised to hostile. The fur on its neck went up and I scrambled back, tripping over a root. And in a second it, whatever it was, was gone; running off into the trees.

I got back to the playground just in time to see Claire fall off the big toy and embed what seemed like a tree branch sized splinter in her knee. The tears continued to fall even after I pulled it out, all the way back home, and didn't stop until she had a Popsicle stuffed in her little maw. It wasn't until later that day did I have a chance to mull over what I'd seen at the park.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own anything from Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. I get nothing from the writing of this story, besides happiness.

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I didn't stop running until I saw the trees thin and the reservation come into view. I phased and put on the pair of shorts I had tied to my leg, hoping on one foot as I continued towards civilization. I was pretty shaken after the episode in the park. The whole run back the others were badgering me about what was happening; what was wrong. I kept running, cutting off their access to the answers they sought. I kept my thoughts guarded carefully, not ready for them to know. _How could I be so stupid? I should have stayed farther away._ I shook myself and stepped out from the cover of the forest. Jake, Embry, and Quil were waiting for me when I got home, no surprise there. I stepped past them to get to the door; they followed me into the house silently. I went directly to my bedroom and pulled on a shirt, then returned to the cramped living room. It used to be a normal sized living room, but then we all got huge, so it gets tight when there are more than three of us in there.

"Alright, what happened? Why didn't you stop to talk to us? And what the hell were you doing so far south?" Jake was sitting in the recliner, with Embry and Quil on the sofa, which left me with the ground. _Of course, the kid needs to be reminded of how low he is on the totem pole._ I rolled my eyes as I dropped to the floor. "I went for a run. I kept going until I was winded, then I stopped to rest before coming back." I avoided eye contact, although they knew there was more to the story. Embry glanced at Jake before saying, "Listen, we aren't mad." Always the diplomat, Embry put on the role of caring friend while gaining information that he could someday use against you. "We're just worried about you. Without the rest of the pack there, something could have happened. What would your sister do if you didn't come home? We really don't need a bloodbath on our hands." _Ha! As if Leah would even notice if I was gone. As if anyone would._ I merely stared at the ground. He was right though, as much as Leah feigned disinterest, if something happened to me she'd go berserk. I wanted to speak, to defend myself; tell them that I hate them, but I can't. I can feel their gazes on the top of my head. The amount of testosterone in the room was stifling, making it hard to even form thoughts. It'd been this way ever since I changed. There were too many males vying for dominance, and not enough space for us to live comfortably apart.

"Seth, answer the question. What happened?" Jake's eyes went cold. I could hear the command in his voice; although he was careful to never FORCE an answer out of us he could still pull the alpha card. "Alright, when I stopped for a breather I realized that I'd come farther than I meant to. I don't think I've been that far south, it didn't smell familiar. I was close to some sort of park or something, because I could hear people nearby. I was getting ready to leave when someone saw me, I panicked and ran. That's it I swear, nothing happened, I came straight home." I looked each of them in the eyes before again letting my gaze sink to the carpet. I had to tell them what happened, whether I wanted to or not. If something had gone wrong and I'd hurt someone, the whole pack would be blamed; I owed them the truth. Quil turned to Jake and asked, "Do you think whoever saw him would contact the police? We really to keep things quiet for at least a few more months. We could follow his trail, find out where he was, and look into things." Embry nodded his agreement. Jake remained passive; well, perhaps not passive, an alpha is never passive, but he kept his thoughts to himself. "I'll think about it. Seth, I'll be back in a few hours to let you know what will be happening." With that he stood and walked out, followed quickly by the other two men.

_Well at least that's over._ I shut the door behind them, and rested my forehead against the cool wood for a few minutes. Breathing deeply, I cleared my head; using the meditation techniques my father had taught me before he died. My heartbeat calmed, the pounding in my skull quieting to a dull ache. _Food. Now._ I'm always starved after phasing, since my body hasn't gotten used to it yet. Today was much worse. The combination of the hours of running, the incident in the park, and the encounter I'd just had with my pack brothers left my stomach growling, more like roaring, and I couldn't put it off any longer. I practically ran to the kitchen, throwing open cabinets in search of sustenance. Usually, mom would have things ready for us when Leah and I got home from patrols, but today was an unplanned trip, so there were no steaming mounds of meat and potatoes waiting for me. I managed to find a few steaks and consumed them in a few bites, which helped buy me some time to actually cook something.

The pantry was in a sad state, _I think its grocery shopping day,_ and I only managed to find five boxes of macaroni and cheese. I got out the largest pot I could find and set about gathering the necessary ingredients. A whole stick of butter and several cups of milk went into the pot when the noodles were done boiling. I could barely wait long enough to stir in the cheese packets, the smell of the food clouding my mind. Not bothering with a bowl, I just took the pot into the living room and ate out of it as I flipped through the channels on the TV. Nothing was on, but it didn't matter. I just wanted to zone out. _I will sort all of this out later. Now is food and infomercial time. Later is the time for thinking._ I lazed on the couch munching on my noodley goodness until the sun had long past set.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own anything from Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. I get nothing from the writing of this story, besides happiness.

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I was lounging on my bed reading when the phone rang. Dad had been called into work early, and Claire was playing with her friend, Sarah, at her house. _Ugh, I'm coming, I'm coming._ I rolled off the tattered quilt and meandered down the hallway, not really in a rush to talk to a telemarketer. I snagged the phone from the hook and flopped down on a stool in the kitchen. "Hello?" I sounded bored, even to myself. "Dude, where the hell have you been? I called your cell like forty times. You know I hate calling your house number." I sat up a little; this was clearly not a telemarketer. "Oh hey, sorry Dani. I guess I left it on vibrate. I'm just reading. What's up?" Danielle Baker has been my best friend since the third grade, when I moved to Hoquiam. She was the first person to talk to me when I was the new kid in school, and she stuck with me when my mom was dying of breast cancer. She is one of the best people I know.

She sounded excited, "You are in for a treat my friend. What do these things have in common? Rocks. Salt Water. And three days of no rain." _What the hell?_ I nibbled on my lower lip, thinking carefully. "You know I hate these guessing games of yours. Just tell me, and save yourself the impatience." I heard a restless sigh through the earpiece. "Okay, FINE. Rocks, salt water, and nice weather all equal a vacation! Alright, maybe not a vacation, but a trip at least. I called into work and got us the next three days off. You remember the beach up at La Push? We're going to spend three glorious days on the beach, just you and me, maybe Jessica, and some seagulls. So? Are you pumped or what?!" Dani paused, waiting for my response.

I shifted on the kitchen stool; my rear was going numb. "Er, yeah I guess so." Dani growled her displeasure, "What do you mean 'I guess so'? You'd damn well better be excited! I had to convince Tracy to let BOTH of us to have those days off, and believe me she wasn't too keen. So you better start packing, I'll be there to pick you up at seven tomorrow morning." I heard a click, and with that the conversation was over.

_Oh geez. As if I don't have too much to do already._ I glanced at the clock; it read three thirty-seven in the afternoon. I hung the phone up and walked back to my bedroom. I pulled my duffel-bag out from under my bed. Chucking it on to the bed, I pulled open a few dresser drawers. All of them were practically empty. _How long has it been since I did laundry? Crap. Okay, so laundry before packing. _I gathered up the copious amounts of fabric from off my floor, and then collected the dirty laundry from both Claire, and my father's, bedrooms. Staggering down the stairs, under the weight of the basket overflowing with shirts and pants, I kicked open the door and dumped the whole load onto the laundry room floor.

Two hours, and a third of the laundry, later I was in the kitchen putting a couple of chicken breasts on a baking sheet. As I slid the tray into the oven I heard footsteps on the porch steps. Dad, with Claire in tow, walked in and hung up his coat, leaning his umbrella against the wall to drain. "Hey guys! Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes." I was snapping the ends off of some snow peas, tossing the finished product in a large glass bowl. "Hey kiddo, how's it going?" Dad sighed loudly as he helped Claire out of her galoshes, which seemed to be filled with water. _Ha! I guess it was puddle stomping time._ "I finally decided it was time to do some laundry. That's pretty exciting yeah?" He chuckled, "I'm impressed. What brought on this bout of cleaning?" Claire came to help me snap peas and Dad leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. _So suspicious, even when I'm doing something productive. Geez Louise._

I paused for a minute, looking for the right words. My father has never been one for impromptu decision making. He likes getting notice of things weeks in advance. This was going to be tricky. "OK, so Dani called today and let me know that we both have the next three days off. Also, the weather is supposed to be beautiful. We thought it'd be fun to take a little road trip up to La Push and hang out on the beach." I purposefully avoided his eyes, concentrating very hard on the full bowl of peas. As if sensing the tension in the room, Claire skipped out to the living room. "How long is this 'little' trip going to be? And when are you leaving? Are you driving, or is Dani? Listen, I hate to be the bad guy, but you need to think about these things. Who's going to watch your sister while I'm at work?" He sighed and moved to sit down on the stool next to mine. I looked up at him, "Well, the trip is going to be for the full three days, starting tomorrow at seven. Dani said she'd pick me up in the morning. And I didn't really think that Claire would be a problem. She's in school until two and then she can just go home with Sarah, you could pick her up on your way home. Dad, please, I think I've earned a few days." I tried very hard to be convincing, using the saddest puppy-dog eyes I could muster.

He couldn't resist, "Alright, alright, just don't look at me like that anymore. I know you work very hard sweetie, and I hope you know that I appreciate all that you do around here. After your mother die – well, in any case you're right. You do deserve this. Are you going to be staying on the beach? I think it may still be a bit cold for that." _Oh thank goodness. I so don't want to think about what Dani would have done to me, had he said no._ "Um, I think we're just going to play it by ear. There's that town nearby, Forks; we could always stay in town if it's too cold." He nodded and stood. "Ok kiddo, you can go. But remember to take your cell and an extra battery. Now, come help me set the table."

Beep _Hrmph _Beep Beep _Wha-? _BEEPBEEPBEEP I smacked the off switch on my alarm clock. _Why does seven have to come so early? I hate Dani, and her mornings._ I sat up in bed, pulling my hair out of my face, and flipped on the light. Luckily, I'd remembered to pack last night, so all I had to do was get dressed and leave. My cell phone started to vibrate. _Damn it Dani._ "Er, hello?" I really hoped she wasn't here yet. "Hey babe. I just wanted to give you heads up; I'll be there in ten. Starting now." Click _Gah. Ok, up!_ I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and groped on the nightstand for a hair tie. As I tossed my curls up and off my neck, I walked to the closet and grabbed the first things I touched. I ended up dressed in a pair of jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and my blue Mariners sweatshirt. My duffel slung across my back, and a pair of Chuck's on my feet completed the look. _I look like hell, probably. Oh well, Dani said I had to be up, not pretty._ I rarely considered myself pretty, even if I'd had all the time in the world to get ready. I'm fairly ordinary looking, aside from the hair, and I was ok with that.

I heard wheels on the gravel driveway out front. _Here we go._ I shoved my cell phone and keys in my back pocket, opened the door, and stepped out into the weak early morning sunshine. "Hey sexy! Get in, before your coffee gets cold." Dani is ridiculously alert in the morning; possibly due to her insane caffeine addiction. Sure, practically everyone I know is addicted to it, but she takes it to a whole new level. I got in on the passenger side of her seriously old Toyota. We usually took her car when we were going somewhere dirty, since the rest of us had cars that weren't older than us. I tossed my duffel in the back seat, alongside Dani's. "Is Jessica not coming?" Dani handed me the enormous cardboard cup, which contained the magic elixir that would keep me awake for the drive to La Push, and backed out onto the road. "Nah, had to work. Lame. Anyways, I made a playlist for the drive! That and the coffee should keep you at least moderately conscious. Don't you love me?" She smiled as she steered the car to the north. It's roughly three hours to get to La Push, which was a bit too long to sit through. We were planning on stopping in Humptulips for a rest. "Yeah I guess. I'd love you more if we had started this journey three hours from now." She didn't respond; just turned up the volume on the stereo.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own anything from Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. I get nothing from the writing of this story, besides happiness.

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Sunshine was seeping through my blinds when I woke up. _Ah, sun! It feels like forever since it was sunny last._ I stretched my long body as far as it would go, which left my lower legs dangling off the end of my bed. Rubbing my eyes lazily, I sat up and threw the blankets off of me. Just then I heard yelling down the hall, I froze. "I don't care what you say, you aren't waking him up. I'm the mother around here, hell I even changed YOUR diapers, and what I say goes!" My mother's voice is distinct if nothing else. _Who is she talking to?_ I couldn't hear anyone's response. _Must be on the phone._ I shook my head and started to look for clothes. As I pulled on a pair of black shorts, I realized that she must have been talking about me. _Aw shit. I bet that was Jake. _Sighing, I decided to not waste any more time and walked out into the living room.

"Hey mom, what's going on?" I walked up and kissed the top of her fragile little head. My mother is fairly petite, so the rest of us have to be careful with her, otherwise we might accidently bruise her with a hug. "Oh, nothing. Just that damned Black boy causing me grief. He wants to talk to you real bad, actually. Any idea what that might be about?" She glared up at me, while handing me a plate piled high with eggs and bacon. I took the plate from her and went to sit at the kitchen table. "I don't want you to worry mom. Honestly, it's ok. He just needs to talk to me a little about what happened yesterday." I tucked into my breakfast with vigor. I had fallen asleep the night before, waiting for that phone call. _I guess he took longer to decide on a course of action. God, I hope he just lets it go. Not like anything happened anyways._ My mother just hmphed, "Fine. But I want you home early tonight. It's one of the few days you aren't on patrol and we're sitting down to dinner tonight." I just nodded, my mouth full of food. She left me to my meal.

I finished eating and went to the phone. Ring Ring _Please don't answer. _Ring Ring _Please don- _click "Hello?" I sighed, "Hey Jake, it's me. What's up?" "I want you to be at my house in ten minutes, ready to run. We're going to talk with Edward and Alice; apparently she saw something of interest." He didn't sound angry per se, but definitely not pleased either. Then again, Alice's visions aren't always clear, so maybe he was just apprehensive about the news. "Yeah, ok. I'll be there as soon as I can." I hung up the phone and went back to my room to get the cord I use for tying my clothes to my body, when I'm in wolf form.

I walked over to Jake's house and was greeted by Quil and Sam, both seated on the front steps. "Hey kid, nice day huh? Maybe after the meeting we should go down for a swim", Quil seemed in a terrific mood. I nodded, "Yeah sure. What's this meeting about any ways?" I looked from one face to the other, but neither of them was going to give anything away. I knew that, but I still felt like I should try. Jake stepped out of the house, followed by a young girl. She appeared to be just a few years younger than me, although I knew her to be much younger. "Hello Nessie, good to see you." She smiled, her brown eyes widening, "Seth! You get bigger every time I see you." She chuckled to herself. "I could say the same thing." I laughed, sharing the joke. Jake cleared his throat, gaining our attention. "Let's go. I don't want to keep them waiting." We all stood; Nessie waited for us to phase, and then set out through the forest.

After a few miles we reached the rendezvous site. Edward and Alice were already there, leaning against the hood of a silver Volvo. As I was still in wolf form, I was privy to the thoughts going through my pack mates minds. Although they weren't fond of the Cullens, with the exception of Jake who happened to be in love with one of them, I had always enjoyed their company. _**Everyone stay as you are. Edward will translate for us. We won't be here long, don't waste time phasing.**_ Jake's voice was addressing all of us, but most specifically me. _I guess I won't say hello then._ I sat on my haunches and waited to be clued in.

Edward and Alice walked forward to greet Jacob, while Nessie went to wait in the car. _So daughter dearest isn't to be involved, must be serious. _Quil growled quietly to me, a warning to keep my thoughts to myself. After a brief moment, Alice turned to us all and spoke. "Hello everyone! Nice to see you all again. I'll try and keep to the point. Last night Carlisle received a phone call from a friend down in Hoquiam. It seems that his daughter and a friend are coming to the area for a few days, and he wanted us to keep an eye on her. I focused on her this morning and saw something quite interesting." She paused, possibly for dramatic effect, which suited her personality. "I looked into different possible situations, and one in particular caught my attention. It looks as though this girl may run into our friend Seth during her trip. If she does, her future goes blank. I don't know what that means, and she hasn't made any decision to see Seth, so this may all just be unnecessary. However, seeing as it concerned the pack, we thought we should inform you." She smiled, turned, and walked back to the car.

Edward remained where he was. "I don't think I need to tell you what this could mean. Seth, I know you have been trying hard, but you need to be watched just in case something goes wrong. Jake, I suggest that you keep lookouts for the girl and have Seth stay somewhere he can't be seen. The girl has green eyes, curly red hair, and will be with another girl, a brunette. If you see either of them, please let me know. I'd like to be kept in the loop." Edward turned and walked away. Jake wuffled his thanks and turned to us as the vampires drove away. _**Seth, go directly back to your house and pack a bag. Quil and Sam you are excused for the rest of the day, but let the others know to keep an eye out. I'll be by to get you in an hour Seth, be ready to leave.**_ With that the three other wolves raced off into the dark trees.

I stayed where I was, frozen in place. _No. No, I won't believe it. It's got to be some other girl, I mean there's got to be loads of people who fit that description._ I flashed back to the previous morning; the look in those large green eyes and I lunged past her. _And who the hell do they think they are telling me what to do! I'm not dangerous! I don't care what Alice saw, I'm not a threat to anyone. I've been well-behaved for months now, how much longer are they going to punish me?_ I stood, shaking out my coat. _I'll show them, nothing will happen to this girl. Maybe then they'll leave me be._ Setting off in to the forest, I felt me resolve harden. I would not let anything happen to that girl, no matter what.


End file.
